School Without Walls, located in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, United States, is a high school for students in grades 9-12, and is an example of an

alternative school An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientati ...

Demographics

*Hispanic 16.5% *White 24.3% *African American 57.0% *Asian 1.5% *Native American 0.8% The free/reduced lunch rate is 68% of students.

History

In 1968, students at Monroe High School presented an idea to the principal for an

alternative education Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. ...

program. In October 1969, teachers began helping students attain their goal. Parents, teachers and students soon joined forces. Led by Lew Marks (1932-2010), an English teacher at the school, they presented a proposal for the School Without Walls to the District Superintendent in January 1971. On February 4, 1971, the Board of Education approved the proposal that created the School Without Walls, which opened in September 1971 at 4 Elton Street, sharing space with the

Visual Studies Workshop Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) is a non-profit group dedicated to art education based in Rochester, New York, in the Neighborhood of the Arts. VSW supports makers and interpreters of images through education, publications, exhibitions, and collect ...

at the time. Subsequent locations included the 5th floor of the building at 50 West Main Street, and a floor of the building at 400 Andrews Street, both in Rochester. School Without Walls moved to its present building, the former Sears Automotive building located near Monroe High School, in 1987. The middle school was closed in 2013.

Notable alumni

* Branden Albert *

Nicholson Baker Nicholson Baker (born January 7, 1957) is an American novelist and essayist. His fiction generally de-emphasizes narrative in favor of careful description and characterization. His early novels such as ''The Mezzanine'' and ''Room Temperature'' we ...

Jim Hilgartner Jim Hilgartner is an American author of poetry and fiction. He writes primarily short fiction, often composing longer stories from assembled shorter vignettes. He received his MFA from the University of Alabama. He taught at Alabama and at Alabama ...

Joy Ladin Joy Ladin (born March 24, 1961) is an American poet and the former David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She was the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution. Early ...

References

External links

School Without Walls
{{authority control Alternative schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1971 High schools in Monroe County, New York Public high schools in New York (state) Public middle schools in New York (state)

Demographics

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links